A couple of years ago we came home in the mid afternoon from errands and just inside our front gate, we noticed in the long grass a pair of black and white ears.

Now for those of you who dont know this, we live in a very hidden away spot, which is a schlep of note to get to if you dont have good reason for getting here. You drive down a deserted road for 2km, and then further down a 500 meter long bush/dirt driveway before reaching our from gate.

Back to my story, we looked at the grass, with those two ears sticking out and my mom said “is that a kitten?” Me, bleeding heart that I am and love of all things feline, I jump out the car and carefully go over to the kitten, who was the tiniest stray I have ever seen. Looks up at me with big blue eyes and the most hilarious Hitler/Chaplin moustache across the top lip.

The first winter, sneaking into my gown sleeve for a comfy spot to sleep.

So I carefully pick the kitten up, and rather than wriggling, hissing or scratching, like most strays would, the poor little thing purrs its lungs out. So young that we cant tell if its a boy or a girl, so small that the entire kitten (head to tip of tail) fits n the palm of my hand, malnourished to a painful point.

We bring it home and I jokingly suggest we call it “Hitler”, of course the thought instantly is thrown out the door, and rather the name Charlie immediately sticks. Just as well, because Charlie is a bisexual name and it turned out about 3 weeks later that it was a girl kitty.

Getting along well with Gajima

We gave her some milk and a little chunks, and bathed her. Yup, you read that right, we bathed her, because she was full of fleas and downright grubby. So out with a bottle of baby shampoo (dont ask why we actually had that on hand! I dont even know….) and a tub of warm water, and we bathed the kitten in the kitchen sink, but hey its ok, we dried her with a hair dryer afterwards. For the next 3 weeks we bathed her every 3 or 4 days because she got fleas so quickly. And in that time she grew so fast!

The other cats (we had two at the time, Zoe and Lil Kitty) and the dogs took well to the kitten. Ok, Zoe not so much, she kinda hates all other animals, but she tolerates Charlie. Charlie and Gajima (our dog who’s name means RUN in zulu) are best of friends and often play in the garden. Charlie even rubs against the legs of the horses.

Did I mention she’s a little bit crazy when it comes to banana boxes?

She doesnt like cuddles, I miss old Prince, my big fat ginger cat who used to love being hugged and cuddled. But Charlie is great for playing and loves chasing a laser light.

She’s a hit with clients, and still has that altogether adorable moustache that would put even the best Movember Mo to shame.

She sleeps on my bed every night.

And that is the story of how Charlie came to us.

P.S. Sorry for missing the mark with my regular Friday updates, I was actually so busy last week that I just didnt get a chance to write. I’ll try get back to having a post up as usual on Friday at 4pm South African time 🙂 Thanks for following.